IAEA inspectors arrive in Tehran for nuclear talks

AP, TEHRAN

UN nuclear inspectors arrived in Iran yesterday in the latest push to hold key talks with Iranian officials about how far the country’s nuclear program has come.

The trip is the second in less than a month by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team, reflecting growing concerns over alleged weapons experiments — something Iran has so far both denied and refused to discuss.

Herman Nackaerts, a senior UN nuclear official, said in Vienna before the team departed on Sunday that he hoped for progress in the talks, but his careful choice of words suggested little expectation the meeting would be successful.

The West suspects Iran’s nuclear program is geared toward making weapons, a charge Iran denies, insisting it is for peaceful purposes only, such as power generation.

Iran’s state TV said the IAEA team arrived early yesterday morning for a two-day visit. The state radio, meanwhile, said the inspectors hope to meet Iranian nuclear scientists and pay a visit to the Parchin military complex.

The radio said the IAEA had requested to visit Parchin, an Iranian military base and conventional weapons development facility outside of Tehran. The site has also been suspected of housing a secret underground facility used for Iran’s nuclear program, a claim denied by Iranian authorities.

IAEA inspectors visited the site in 2005, but only one of four areas of potential interest within the grounds. At the time, the nuclear watchdog did not report any unusual activities, but the Parchin site was prominently mentioned in the agency’s report last year.

It said Iran constructed “a large explosives containment vessel” in which to conduct experiments on triggering a nuclear explosion, apparently 11 years ago, adding that it had satellite images “consistent with this information.”

“Whatever the reasoning of the agency is, it proves the IAEA is not loyal to its previous commitments,” the Iranian radio said.

The tone of the commentary suggested the visit to the military complex would likely be denied.

The IAEA visit comes as Iran last week announced what it described as key advances in its nuclear program, inserting the first domestically made fuel rod into a research reactor in Tehran and installing a new generation of Iranian-made centrifuges at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility in the central town of Natanz.

Beyond concerns about the purported weapons work, Washington and its allies want Iran to halt uranium enrichment, which they believe could eventually lead to weapons-grade material and the production of nuclear weapons. Iran has been enriching uranium up to 20 percent, while uranium enriched to more than 90 percent can be used for a nuclear warhead.

The IAEA team wants to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of working on an alleged weapons program. They also hope to break down opposition to their plans to inspect documents related to nuclear work and secure commitments from Iranian authorities to allow future visits.

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